Abstract

A new type of saturable absorber (SA) based on gold nanorods (GNRs) for all-fiber passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is realized experimentally. The longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption of GNRs is used to induce Q-switching. By inserting the GNRs SA in an EDFL cavity pumped by a 980 nm laser diode, stable passive Q-switching is achieved with a threshold pump power of ~27 mW, and 4.8 μs pulses at 1560 nm with a repetition rate of 39.9 kHz are obtained for a pump power of ~275 mW.

Figures (5)

(a) TEM image of the GNRs, the inset of Fig. 1(a):
Photograph of the aqueous solution of GNRs. (b) Aspect ratio distribution of GNRs. (c) AFM image of
GNRs-NaCMC film (the scan range is 20 × 20 μm). (d) Absorption spectra of NaCMC with
and without GNRs.